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Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Lee Speed Forum & Archive

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leeenfield
.275 member


Reged: 07/12/11
Posts: 53
Loc: Canada
A New Life for an Old Lady (Long Post)
      #294590 - 01/02/17 11:55 AM

This story is about an old lady who was badly used during her 110 years or so and left to obscurity in the dust and darkness at the back of a friend's vault. I passed by her many times, never giving her a second glance, in my search for one who had weathered time more gracefully. One day, however, I gave her a second look and decided that she deserved better.

She had started life as a BSA-manufactured Grade 1 sporter. Her bore had succumbed completely to years of corrosive priming and poor cleaning. Along the way, her ebony forend tip had been lost and someone had attempted to place a piece of deer antler in its place. Her butt had disappeared as well and someone had badly hewn a replacement out of the plainest piece of walnut ever seen and covered it with opaque brown stain. Her original magazine was gone. So were her magazine cut-off and dust cover, but it would not have been unusual to remove them from a working rifle.

On the plus side, her magazine had been replaced with an authentic period-correct 5 round carbine magazine and she sported a nice old Cogswell and Harrison buttplate. The rest of the metal work was intact and not rusty -- just aged to a nice brown patina. The forend was sound but the chequring had been worn away in places from legitimate use and what remained was filled with 100+ years of oil and sweat.

So the project began. The first order of busness was to have the barrel rebored, necked and throated to .338". I now have a 338-303 (or a 303-338 for the British), which should be ballistically similar to the old .33 Winchester. Below, on the left is the cartridge loaded with a 220 gr cast bullet. On the right is the old MkVI .303 for comparison


The next step was to remove the deer antler forend tip and to replace it with a new one from ebony. Below you can see the before and after.
Before

and


And after


Next, to re-work the old butt. Reshaped, faux-grained, stained and a hand-rubbed oil finish applied.
Before


And After


Here are some more pictures of the final result




And now to the mystery. Along the way someone had carefully and skillfully peened-out the retailer's and manufacturer's marks. Why? I'd appreciate any ideas. See below



Additionally, the left side of the butt-socket had been stamped as below. Why?

I had wondered if she had been pressed into miltary service at one point, but there are no "sold out of service" marks

So the chequring renains to be done. What else? Given that the collector value has been diminished by the indignities she has suffered along the way, I could clean up and re-cut the missing chequring, and I could rust-blue the metal. Or, I could leave it as-is as a tribute to and memory of her journey through life.

What do you think? And thanks for reading.


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Roy
.300 member


Reged: 06/09/15
Posts: 219
Loc: New Mexico
Re: A New Life for an Old Lady (Long Post) [Re: leeenfield]
      #294591 - 01/02/17 01:45 PM

Hello,

And thank you for this fine post.

Did you know you have a 'very' rare rifle indeed....?

The 'No1 SR N' markings on the left of the action strap refer to (No1 Sporting Rifle) the fact that this was one of only 970 sporting rifles purchased by the Admiralty during 1915 for use on trawlers. The 'N' is for Navy and the broad arrow (at bottom) has been obscured.

I have an example (a No4) and you can read my webpage on it on this link:

http://wilkinsonfscollection.com/wilkinsonfscollection.com/Lee-Speed_No4_Admiralty_Contract.html

There are only a handful of these known to have survived, so well done.


Hope this helps?

Cheerio,

Roy

--------------------
My Website: www.wilkinsonfscollection.com

http://wilkinsonfscollection.com/wilkinsonfscollection.com/The_Lee-Speed_Rifle.html

Edited by Roy (01/02/17 01:48 PM)


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leeenfield
.275 member


Reged: 07/12/11
Posts: 53
Loc: Canada
Re: A New Life for an Old Lady (Long Post) [Re: Roy]
      #294594 - 01/02/17 03:05 PM

Hello, Roy, and thanks for your informative reply adding to my knowledge about this old rifle. The one constant that I have learned in my association with these rifles is that there is always something new and unexpected. I had gone so far as to surmise that the"No.1 S.R." meant exactly what you have said, but I did not know for sure and did not know the context. I guess that this old girl is a keeper. I'm still looking for one like your recently acquired Watson Bros. -- congratulations. Keep well.

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Roy
.300 member


Reged: 06/09/15
Posts: 219
Loc: New Mexico
Re: A New Life for an Old Lady (Long Post) [Re: leeenfield]
      #294597 - 01/02/17 03:40 PM

Hi,

You're most welcome. Really lovely to see this historic rifle, a great survivor and one with a story too.

While at the Las Vegas show I did happen across a dealer that had a No2 Lee-Speed that was also an Admiralty purchase. He was quite pleased when the marking details were pointed out.

Thanks for your kind words on my Watson Bros, I can't stop looking at it..:)

Cheerio,

Roy

--------------------
My Website: www.wilkinsonfscollection.com

http://wilkinsonfscollection.com/wilkinsonfscollection.com/The_Lee-Speed_Rifle.html


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NitroXAdministrator
.700 member


Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39066
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: A New Life for an Old Lady (Long Post) [Re: Roy]
      #294606 - 02/02/17 01:03 AM



And what a fine thing to do, was to remove this ugly abomination ...

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26414
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: A New Life for an Old Lady (Long Post) [Re: NitroX]
      #294639 - 02/02/17 07:20 AM

Nice job!!!!!!!

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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